Congratulations. I am thoroughly impressed. Looking at the result I saw two familiar names, Greg and Paula McNair. I have done many auto cross event with the Norcal UFO Club(RIP) and they are always there running incredible fast times in their highly modified Meyers Manx buggies. To see your time was comparable to theirs and that you are a rookie to the hill made me realize just how fast and hard you must have been attacking the hill. Way to go.

Great_Escape wrote:Congratulations. I am thoroughly impressed. Looking at the result I saw two familiar names, Greg and Paula McNair. I have done many auto cross event with the Norcal UFO Club(RIP) and they are always there running incredible fast times in their highly modified Meyers Manx buggies. To see your time was comparable to theirs and that you are a rookie to the hill made me realize just how fast and hard you must have been attacking the hill. Way to go.

Thanks! The McNairs are awesome. I think they have blown at least 1 engine at every hillclimb I have seen them at (Greg likes to build them on the ragged edge), but they always have a few spares on the trailer and can do the swap in about an hour, so they are always back running the next day! And with the power to weight ratio of those little buggies (~200+hp in a 1300# car) they really scoot.

This last weekend (July 19 and 20) was the Hoopa Hillclimb. I did this event last year and was really looking forward to doing it again. Last year my fastest run was a 2:33, so for this year my goal was to get down below 2:30. I knew that with the upgrades I have made since last years event (stronger engine, larger carbs, r-compound tires) I had a pretty good chance of achieving this.

Arriving Friday night we (my Dad came with me again) cruised though tech and registration then went straight to the hill to do some recon. I had been watching my videos from last year and had a pretty good grasp on the course, but I wanted to really dial in a few key sections. I walked these areas several times to really familiarize myself with them, and felt ready and confident for the next day.

Saturday was sweltering (100*F) and being in the second run group, I got to bear the brunt of it. My first run went well, but I was cautious in a few spots, and I knew that I was still leaving some time out there. Never the less I finished with a 2:31, faster than last year, but still not my goal. On my second run I pushed a little more and was able to drop a couple of seconds to get down to a 2:29. I was stoked! However, I knew that I had made a few mistakes, and that with a cleaner run I could go even faster. That evening the club that hosts the event put on an awesome dinner. The highlight of the night (beyond the great salmon and tri-tip) was getting to talk in depth with Craig Lamothe, a fellow Datsun head who I autocross with regularly. He raced ITC back in the glory days of the 510 in that class, and he had many great stories about it. It was really cool to hear about the close racing action, and all the little things they did to gain the edge on the competition.

Sunday came with the promise of cooler temps (only mid 90's) and hopefully faster runs. I was also running in the morning, so I hoped this could give me that little extra bit of power on the hill. However, we were a bit delayed when there was not 1, but 2 rollovers in turn 11 about 5 runs apart. Despite this I was still feeling confident and ready for my runs. First run of the day I felt faster though much of the course, and really nailed the key sections. I was able to drop a couple more seconds to finish with a 2:27. For my next and final run, I wanted to push harder though a few of the faster turns and push my braking zones a little deeper. During my last run I had a great feeling the whole time. I realized that I had really begun to learn the hill. I knew what every turn was like before I got to them. I knew which line I need to take and where I needed to brake. It felt almost euphoric. This confidence and familiarity helped my finish my final run with a 2:26.29, over 7 seconds faster than my fastest run last year!

I was able to walk away with the OSP-U class win, but more importantly, I was really happy with how I drove and how the car ran for the whole weekend.

Here are a couple of videos. The first is me going though turn 6 (I take a wide line to maintain momentum and avoid the rough pavement on the inside) and then down the straight after turn 10. The second is the in car video from my fastest run. I apologize for how shaky the camera is. I think it may be time to invest in something better.

This last weekend was a double header with the auto-x club I run with. We run both Saturday and Sunday on the same course, just in reverse on Sunday. I never really got the hang of the course. It involved a pivot cone that you had to do a 360 around that didn't really suit the 510. Never the less, I was able to win my class on both days and with that I am guaranteed to with the season long championship for my class. I'm pretty happy with that.

Here is a shot from Sunday of my car waving hi with the inside front in the air.

Congrats, Duke! Anything you have in mind to change/improve the car further?

Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson

okayfine wrote:Anything you have in mind to change/improve the car further?

Yeah, there are quite a few things that I'm looking into. The main theme is weight reduction. Perhaps some FG body panels, lexan side windows, lighter front calipers, maybe a tubular front sway bar. I would like to get the car under 2000# as well as improve the F/R weight distribution but keep it fairly streetable.

I'm also thinking pretty hard about doing a R&P conversion. The old steering box isn't quite cutting it anymore. I would like a little more precision and a little faster ratio. I think this may end up being my big winter project.

I did the lexan 1/4 windows, and made the lexan window in the passenger side, minus roll up mechanism. My drivers side I did lexan, with roll up mechanism. This gets rid of some high, side to side CG weight. Glass front and rear. Lexan is high maintenance, NOT recomended for windshield other than full on race car where you change it every few years. NEVER, EVER, use paper towel on Lexan

Light(er) seat.....? You've likely done that.

I put that small fuel tank ( 2 gallons ) in the trunk, that way I could run with NO fuel in the main tank, which both eliminated weight, and, with No sloshing back and forth, kept rear weight side to side transfer more in control. Even with a few gallons, you risk uncovering pickup, and have 24 lbs moving over.

battery in right rear and sunken in well.

I had very light Panasport race wheels and with a 13" at the time race slicks, was a pretty light unsprung package.

My Brakeman calipers are not heavy.

no interior, other than I left the black side panels in..their not heavy in the scheme of things

Your in California..I kept my heater ( good thing) at least it is almost in the middle of the car.

I went with the shorter steering arms, yah the box is a bitch..

I have fiberglass hood and fenders, steel trunk lid.

I have a legal roll bar only

still have my dash with a bunch of goofy gauges

With all that, I'm likely still 2,100 -2,200 lbs...next summer I swear I am going to scale my car.

My main competitor at the time gutted his 510, cut steel from doors etc, had full cage to keep stiffness in car, he got down to 1900 lbs I think and the car will never see the street again, still sitting in his garage.

front to rear distribution, you can run the rear lower of course. I tended to keep my car slightly raked to the front in my case, as it helped under braking to lighten the rear up a hair, for turn in.

Funny thing now, with a million hard miles on my 1,200 lbs rear springs, I just sit a tad low in the back now, and the car feels very , very good. Part of that I am attributing to today's wonderful tires, which I can "feel" way better than I did with the slicks.

Found a bunch of photos from Hoopa. Just going to dump them all here. All of these are from turn 9, which is one of the faster (very top end of 2nd gear) and less steep of the switchbacks. This turn leads onto the longest straight on the course so it is very important to carry as much speed as possible though it.

Haha, there really isn't much to update. I spent basically the first half of the year on an extended vacation with my girlfriend. 3 months in Europe and 1.5 months in South Africa. Mostly doing this type of thing:

I did get a chance to visit The Nurburgring while in Europe. If you are any kind of petrol head this place is a must go. It is one of the few places that you can pull up to dinner and park between a track prepped M3 and a similarly prepped Porsche, and it isn't odd. The area is filled with petrol heads of all kinds. I was able to do 3 laps of the ring and it was one of the coolest experiences. Watching video's on Youtube and driving it in video games does nothing to prepare you for The Green Hell. Crazy elevation changes, blind corners, long fast straights...all with little to no run off area.

After returning to the US I promptly got back on the road and spent 3 weeks up in Squamish, BC doing some more rock climbing.I was hoping to make it to the All Japanese show in Vancouver but ended up missing it. Maybe one of these years. I would love to get to chat with some of the Canadian members here.

So not a lot of work has been happening on the car. I've been doing a little bit of bodywork (which I hate) and taking care of some other odds and ends. I did do an autocross last weekend. The car is still fast, but after not autocrossing for a year, I had a bit of a hard time getting in the groove. I had the second fastest time of the day, but a cone wrecked that run.

I do have a few plans for the winter. I'm getting closer and closer to yanking out the steering box and putting in a rack and pinion. I think I have the design pretty much finalized in my head, now I just need to gather some parts and execute. I'm also in the process of doing some kind goofy little side jobs on it, which I will post pictures of then they are done...

duke wrote:I did get a chance to visit The Nurburgring while in Europe. If you are any kind of petrol head this place is a must go. It is one of the few places that you can pull up to dinner and park between a track prepped M3 and a similarly prepped Porsche, and it isn't odd. The area is filled with petrol heads of all kinds. I was able to do 3 laps of the ring and it was one of the coolest experiences. Watching video's on Youtube and driving it in video games does nothing to prepare you for The Green Hell. Crazy elevation changes, blind corners, long fast straights...all with little to no run off area.

I'm glad you enjoyed the 'ring', I came away with a very different experience which I'll document to give others a 'heads-up' of what to expect.

I did a bit of a bucket list trip to Europe 3-4 years ago, Goodwood Festival of Speed, rented a Lotus Exige 240s and toured Spa (VERY COOL!), and then rented a track-prepped Suzuki and did 3-4 laps of Nurburg.

Burg_small.jpg (178.52 KiB) Viewed 1238 times

Honestly, of all the trip highlights, I enjoyed lapping Nurburgring the least. Talk about a gong show! To get around 'legalities', they treat the track like a large two-lane, 1 way road, which happens to have no divided line and all the speed limits signs are turned sideways (literally!). If you cut someone off as they dive into an apex you'll be charged with a driving infraction - improper lane change.

The diversity in vehicles (passenger cars, track cars, hyper cars, tour buses, motorcycles, track repair crew), combined with the difference in speed, mixed with a track that is literally trying to kill you (and succeeds with alarming frequency) means that it's a VERY risky undertaking to 'enjoy' the track.

My rental car had some insane verbiage to protect themselves and the cost of the vehicle and track repair (guardrail apparently gets chewed up a lot there). As soon as the car was returned they plugged a USB key into the ECU to download my interaction with the car. Had I gone over the rev limit (even with the motor still intact) I would have received a LARGE bill to rebuild it, no questions asked.

My experience may have been better had I known where the hell I was going. I was in a strange car, on a strange track, where speedbikes and full GT-prepped track Porsches blast past at blinding speed & noise. I was CONSTANTLY looking in my rear view mirror which is not easy on an unfamiliar track such as this. As everybody knows, there are a million corners and a large number of them are blind crests. In one blind riser they cut the trees in the wrong direction to 'trick' you into believing the track goes right when it goes left. Seriously.

The *only* saving grace for me was that the track stayed dry during my entire outing. The rain came about 15 minutes after I was done, I could not imagine driving that place in the wet...